


The Whole World At Your (fingertips)

by PeachyKeener



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drinking, Drunkness, Gen, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Adopted Child, Iron Husbands, Like, M/M, Mentioned Peter Parker, Parent James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Rhodey and Tony are Married!! Harleys their kid!!!, Rhodey who's always put aside and Harley whos always forgotten, an y w a y, and by extensions James Rhodes Adopted child, anyway, expect more like this, father son duo, he gets a hug!, i love them, mentioned Tony Stark, parkner, the forgotten duo, this comes from a deepseated love of Rhodey and Harley bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29827212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyKeener/pseuds/PeachyKeener
Summary: “I think it was funny,” Harley sniffed, pressing his head into Rhodey’s shoulder, “I think I’m funny.”“I think you’re funny too, Harls.”Rhodey finds his son drunk on the roof and is reminded of his husband. He knows how to help with this.
Relationships: Harley Keener & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 149





	The Whole World At Your (fingertips)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovelyirony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyirony/gifts).



> hewwo i hope yall like thus UWU thank you MEGGO for beta reading this fic OWO 
> 
> in all seriousness this is one of my favorite dynamics to write and i want to explore this more. Just. Harley is the son that Rhodey and Tony could've had, if they had wanted that, and its just very very soft. This fic is gfited to Lovely because we talk about this... so much...

After years of service in the military, there weren’t a lot of things that Rhodey was  _ scared _ of. He could count on his hand the number of things that made his heart race and stutter in pure fear. Tony, getting kidnapped. Those months where he didn’t know if his husband was alive or dead. The palladium poisoning. His husband falling from the sky. His mother’s shaky voice announcing that his dad was sick. His sister crying on the phone about her husband being in the hospital with their daughter. A lot of his fear was about his family. 

So it wasn’t really a surprise that his stomach jolted in an uncomfortable and rolling feeling of pure terror when he went out onto the roof and was met with the silhouette of a boy-  _ Harley,  _ his brain screamed,  _ Harley, who was every good part of him and Tony combined, Harley who was like he son he always wanted, Harley who reminded him so much of himself, so much of Tony, so much of everything good in the world-  _ on the roof of the tower, an expensive vodka bottle clutched to his side. 

“Harls?” He murmured, keeping his voice light. “What are you doing out here?”    
  
Harley made no move away from the edge of the tower but his grip tightened on the bottle. His knuckles were straining, Rhodey realized with a pang in his heart. “Not whatever you’re thinkin’.” 

He hadn’t really been thinking  _ anything  _ to be honest, but now he realized just how much he should be afraid. His son’s words were slurred, his entire body shaking, and he was near the edge of a building that had 80 stories. He could- he could...fear wrapped around his heart and for a second, Rhodey struggled to compose himself. 

But breathing in and out became easier as he registered what Harley had actually said. It’d been a long time since he comforted a drunk person with mental health issues- memories of his husband, tiny and fragile, in tears on top of a roof like this one except nothing like this one, a bottle of jack in his hand, threatened to overwhelm him and he pushed it down- but he knew that not believing Harley would make things worse. 

“Okay.” Nodding, he moved towards the edge, sitting next to the kid. “Wanna sit next to me?”    
  
Harley stared at him for a second, eyes startlingly blue and empty. Tear tracks were running down his face, and the grip on the bottle didn’t loosen at all. He seemed to be cognitive enough to recognize a peace offering when it came, though, because he sat down next to Rhodey crossed-legged on the edge. When he brought the bottle up to his lips, he had to look away. 

“Don’ take it away from me,” Harley mumbled, noticing the way Rhodey’s eyes had disappeared from his face and towards the skyline. “I don’- I wanna-” 

“I won’t take it away from you, Harley,” He said firmly. “I won’t take it away from you. I don’t think that would help, as much as I wish you weren’t drinking at three AM on a school night.”    
  
“Was thinking too much and-”

Harley cut himself off, but Rhodey just nodded. “I figured. You know, I’m no super genius like you and Tony, but I know a thing or two about thinking more than I oughta.”   
  
“Don’t say that,” the younger boy’s voice was quiet, “You’re- Rhodey, You’re a super genius. You’re- you’re so so smart and- and you put up with  _ so much  _ between me and Tony and-”   
  
“Hey, hey,” He shhed, pulling the boy who could’ve been his son into a tight hug. He didn’t move to dislodge the bottle in his hands, just hold him tightly. Harley had such a bad lot in life and he knew the kid just needed a hug. “I don’t put up with anything but your pranks. You’re not something to put up with, kid. Well- You are something to put up with when you paint the Iron Patriot suit pink and green.”    
  
“That was funny.” 

“It was but not when I only found out because I had to go on a mission.”    
  
“I think it was funny,” Harley sniffed, pressing his head into Rhodey’s shoulder, “I think I’m funny.”    
  
“I think you’re funny too, Harls.” 

They sat there in silence for a moment and Rhodey had to wonder- Harley was all of the best parts of him and Tony he’d always thought. Always bright and funny. Always witty and smart. He had a good head on his shoulder, he reminded Rhodey so fucking much of when the two of them were young. Harley was all the best parts of him and Tony and he was also something so uniquely Harley that it made Rhodey beam to see. This kid- this was  _ his  _ kid, on some level. 

And he’d always thought that Harley was just the best parts of them. But this was- this, the drinking, standing on the roof in the dead of night. Maybe Harley had some of the worst parts in him too. 

Images of his husband, drunk and withering away, entered his mind, and he had to close his eyes to not picture the young blonde who was trusting him to be strong like that. Withering. Drunken. Destroyed. He wouldn’t let it happen. He just  _ wouldn’t.  _

Harley sniffed again, but this time, he could feel hot tears on his shirt where the kid’s head was resting. It stings him to his core, but he’s been through this one million times before- MIT flashes through his mind again, but he just hums softly, patting the kids back. “I’ve got you.” 

“‘M breaking my own heart,” Harley sobs out as an explanation, even though Rhodey didn’t need one. “He- Peter- I  _ can’t-  _ and I’m  _ afraid.”  _

Ah. The boyfriend. 

He’s not exactly sure he’s the one equipped for this, given that Tony had been his first and only serious relationship and they’re married now. Because for all their faults, all their fighting and bickering and all Tony’s drinking and partying, they’ve never really been- well- he doesn’t know what to describe them except for Tony Stark and James Rhodes, and he knows whatever’s going on with Peter and Harley is different. 

Instead, he keeps Harley pulled into the hug and just hums gently, “It’s okay to be afraid.”    
  
“‘S not okay to be drunk an’ afraid.”    
  
“Probably not your wisest choice, Harls, but it’s just me up here.” The words are assurance that he’s both not alone, but also not overwhelmed by those he can’t handle. They’re ones he’s whispered to Tony before. Ones he knows will work by a process of trials and errors. “I’ve got your back, even if no one else does. You’re like a son to me, you know that?”    
  
“I know,” Harley’s choking with sobs, but his fingers relax on the bottle and that’s a win. “You’re the only dad I have that never ever left.”    
  
Internalizing the wince on behalf of his husband, he realizes that as much as it sucks, it’s true. Harley’s birth father had left a long time ago and even though Tony came back there was still a year where he hadn’t spoken or talked to Harley at all. He, on the other hand, had stayed in Harley’s life since the second he’d been allowed in it. 

Maybe that’s why Harley was actually talking to him instead of ignoring him in favor of drinking.

_ “And I’m never gonna leave.”  _ The words come as a promise after a beat of silence, and he watches as Harley’s fingers relax even more slightly on the bottle. “Now, genius, wanna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours about Peter?” 

The boy on his shoulder suddenly looks so much younger than he is- even with the alcohol in his system- as he finally pulls away to look at the skyline. “I don’t- I like- he’s so  _ good,  _ Rhodey, and I’m me and-”    
  
It’s a conversation he’s heard before. Once again, his mind is drawn to MIT and the time right after it and listening to the man he loves berate himself again and again for daring to love and be loved back. It makes an uncomfortable feeling settle in his chest because Harley- Harley deserves so much more than to have to struggle with those thoughts and these vices. 

“Want some advice, kid?”    
  
“I can’t- I can’t promise I’ll take it.”    
  
“You don’t have to,” He assures. Harley’s fingers loosen even more on the bottle. “It might not work for you. But back in the day, back when me and Tony really really didn’t have any of our shit together, we both thought like that.”    
  
Harley blinked surprised and Rhodey could see the train of thought in his eyes. “Oh. But you two are-”   
  
“A lot of things. Perfect was never one of them.” Harley sniffs at that, but listens, “But you know what?”    
  
“What?”    
  
“Maybe I wasn’t good enough for Tony, and maybe Tony wasn’t good enough for me. Love- it isn’t  _ about  _ good enough. It’s not about being good for someone. It’s about the tiny flaws you still love and putting in the effort to care and choosing them. It’s about choices.”    
  
“Oh.” The bottle was placed beside them, and Rhodey doesn’t sigh in relief just yet. He’s worked too hard for Harley to put down that bottle of Vodka to give him a reason to think he should pick it back up again. “I- so it- does it matter that I’m not- that I’m-”    
  
“Not good enough or whatever?” He meets Harley’s eyes with a force, clasping a hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t say that. For the record here, Harley, I think you  _ are  _ good enough. Hell, I think you’re  _ more  _ than good enough. But it’s not about being good enough. It’s about choosing him. It’s about him choosing you.”    
  
“Oh.” 

“Mhm.”    
  
Harley sniffs again, eyes still lined with red and watering. “I- um- can we go back inside?”    
  
_ Now  _ he can breathe a sigh of relief, as he helps Harley stand up- because the kid is  _ drunk,  _ so fucking piss drunk, no matter how coherent he’s acting, and god that reminds him of Tony too- and gently makes his way to the door while he tries not to stumble. The bottle of vodka gets left behind on the roof, and he makes a mental note to come back to pick it up tomorrow. 

Slowly, he helps Harley make it through the apartments, giving him a few glasses of water, before tucking him into bed. The kid is out like a light within seconds, and the fear that had been coiled low in his gut since he’d gone out on that roof released.

Harley would be alright. He was a good kid, just had a few vices to him that were hard to deal with and hard to shake. Rhodey understood. 

He stayed out on the couch that night, just in case Harley woke up again and needed someone to be there and Rhodey found himself realizing he would  _ always  _ be there for Harley. The boy was- when he closed his eyes, when he pictures what a son would act like if he and Tony had ever wanted to take that step- Harley. 

So Rhodey would always be there. 

And if his husband furrowed his brow at him the next morning and asked why he slept on the couch; if Peter eyed Harley in concern at breakfast; if Harley gave him a tight lingering hug as thanks, well that didn’t bother him at all. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all liked it! 
> 
> Hit me up at Peachy-Keener on tumblr, or leave a comment down bellow!


End file.
